For those who've moved to Jersey (Read 805 times)

A big congrats on expecting! Enjoy the carefree long runs and afternoon naps now man!

I'm in the pro-jersey camp. I've lived in several states and countries, and NJ is one of my favorite places.

If remaining connected to NYC is important there are a lot of very nice towns which are a quick commute in. I know there are a ton of NYC expats in some of the bigger towns within 45 min to midtown. Summit, Westfield, Montclair, Millburn and Ridgewood are all very popular among this crowd. Morristown is a bit further out but also has a lot going on. Taxes in union county (Summit/Westfield) and Morris Count (Chatham/Madison/Morristown) are generally lower than Essex. But still high. I agree that Princeton is also great, btw. As are many other smaller towns in Bergen county.

When I first got married, we lived in Hoboken...it was a struggle to get my wife out of the city (she's from Brooklyn). She's very happy we did it though, and loves our town. Once you have the kids its easy to get connected to the community, after which you wont miss the city so much. Many of our friends and neighbors lived in the city previously. The upshot is you can always get into the city for dinner/concerts/sports and its easy.

I never look for parking. Running in suburbia is definitely better. I rarely wait for traffic lights when running. I have a lot of varied routes, access to trails, and routinely see woodland creatures on my runs. Mecca, its not. But its worth exploring. It will really boil down to where you want to raise your family, and it sounds like your mother-in-law already has a convincing opinion.

Yeah pretty hard not to have those problems when you are sandwiched in between New York City and Philadelphia.

I grew up in Warren County and back when I was young you'd never know that I was anywhere near a city. It was all small towns and farms. Today I live about 10 miles from the house that I grew up in and while urban sprawl has made its way out here it's still not all that bad.

I'll never retire here as it's too damn expensive, but for now I will stick around. I love the neighborhood that I live in, can afford it, and my wife and I have family close by. That and we are within a couple of hours to the shore, the mountains, or the cities.

Warren County, and particularly Sussex County, maybe even Hunterdon, are awesome places. I never felt so remote while hiking the Appalachian Trail through Sussex County.

I would love to live in a place like, say, Blairstown. But my family is too used to things like malls and shopping centers and that sort of crap. So, living in a rural area (well, I live in a rural area anyway), a *more* rural area, is out of the question for them.

A big congrats on expecting! Enjoy the carefree long runs and afternoon naps now man!

I'm in the pro-jersey camp. I've lived in several states and countries, and NJ is one of my favorite places.

If remaining connected to NYC is important there are a lot of very nice towns which are a quick commute in. I know there are a ton of NYC expats in some of the bigger towns within 45 min to midtown. Summit, Westfield, Montclair, Millburn and Ridgewood are

See, I think this is part of the problem. And I'm not trying to think for them. I have never been a "city guy", growing up about 20 miles out of Philly on the PA side in a rural area. But, it was always close enough if I needed to get there for a game or the airport. There was a full working farm with cows, horses, etc literally across the street (which is now a housing developement sadly...progress).

But, I do realize that some people are city folk, and think that Jersey, either because it has rural parts, or unpleasant city parts can be a place you wouldn't want to live in.

My main objection was calling the entire state a wasteland. Even if it was joking.

I was trying to be funny about my experience with Camden. It has a "special" reputation. Of course I do not extrapolate that to represent the whole state any more than inner Detroit represents my birth state.

I was born in Edison, raised in Morris county, lived in Essex County for 3 years (then left the state), moved back and lived in Atlantic County (at the shore). It's a good place. Although come tomorrow I'm not a resident anymore. I think you'll be happy.

But, my destination at the time was "the thumb", on Lake Huron, and when I got to where I was going, I was close to thinking I would love to live here forever. I can't recall, but it was directly north of a town called Bad Axe. Right on the lake. Beautiful.

This is the problem with blanket statements. And yes, once again, I know you weren't the person who originally made the statement that got me riled.

HAHAHA!!!!!

I am from "the thumb", I grew up on a farm exactly 3 miles from the downtown intersection in Bad Axe, in fact; I ran XC and track for Bad Axe HS. By "directly north" I assume you were in Port Austin. I find it kind of funny that you thought it was "beautiful", only because as a local it all seemed kinda drab and we always wondered why the hell the tourists liked it so much. I still end up in Port Austin nearly every time I go home as my parents like a restaurant there.

If for any reason you find yourself there again my all means, send me a PM and I'll help you out.

My company has a subsidiary in central NJ. I have a coworker who relocated her family there a couple years ago. Her HS-aged daughter's primary complaint was that it was podunk nowhere, not connected to anything. Now, this was a HS girl who had been perfectly happy in an average midwestern city. So, it makes it pretty clear that despite its small size NJ has a pretty diverse offering of environments.

"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

I am from "the thumb", I grew up on a farm exactly 3 miles from the downtown intersection in Bad Axe, in fact; I ran XC and track for Bad Axe HS. By "directly north" I assume you were in Port Austin. I find it kind of funny that you thought it was "beautiful", only because as a local it all seemed kinda drab and we always wondered why the hell the tourists liked it so much. I still end up in Port Austin nearly every time I go home as my parents like a restaurant there.

If for any reason you find yourself there again my all means, send me a PM and I'll help you out.

My company has a subsidiary in central NJ. I have a coworker who relocated her family there a couple years ago. Her HS-aged daughter's primary complaint was that it was podunk nowhere, not connected to anything. Now, this was a HS girl who had been perfectly happy in an average midwestern city. So, it makes it pretty clear that despite its small size NJ has a pretty diverse offering of environments.

Port Austin! That was it!

You have to understand, I lived in the Philly suburbs, went to college in super rural PA. So we have beautiful lakes, and go to the ocean (the shore). Lake Huron blew me away.

They told me that this thing was a lake, but I was seeing waves and shit. Could not see the other side. It looked like an ocean to me. Sand, waves, sun, nice water, no land in sight.

And the day we left, there was a storm with 10 foot waves crashing on the pier.

A LAKE? ARE YOU KIDDING?

It was a real eye opener. And a very good experience for me.

And, as for your co-worker (where did they move to, I used to live in Central NJ). yeah, podunk is right. If you're out of the city, not near Philly or NYC, it really *is* the Garden State (but, unfortunately, fading fast). NJ is the second (maybe the first) most densly populated state. But, 10 miles from my house, the population density is less than 1 person per square mile. Which means that the populated parts are REALLY populated, and the unpopulated places are really vacant. We make jokes about the people who live there (Piney's). They have bumper stickers that say, "I'm a Piney From My Head Down To My Hiney". And they have three teeth. Classy.

And YES....I'M JOKING. At least about the teeth thing. The bumper stickers are real.

We were at a wedding in Bad Axe. (crap, you probably know the guy, the place is so small)

Everyone, of course, was drunk.

I'm listening to these rednecks...one guy was, "Ya know, 'the thumb' just ain't like it used to be."

I'm sorry, I apologize, but I just laughed and laughed when I heard that.

Yes, I know it was ignorant. I had no knowledge of these people and how their life had been disrupted by the poor economy (this was in 2000) and development and everything. it's just that that statement sounded so funny to me.

As a poor student in the summer of 2005 I rented a bedroom in Elizabeth ($300 a month!) and commuted on NJ transit to Newark. My crib was right on the line b/w the Columbian neighborhood and the black neighborhood (generalization based my observations). For this white kid from CT it was a really cool cultural experience all around, from the restaurants to the people, markets, shows. Would I choose to raise my family in that part of NJ? No. But it was far from culturally empty. My only regret about that summer was I was harrassed on my first run, and not exactly knowing where one could safetly roam, I felt I had to join the gym at the company where I was interning for the summer.

Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and roguesWe're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes

I would love to live in a place like, say, Blairstown. But my family is too used to things like malls and shopping centers and that sort of crap. So, living in a rural area (well, I live in a rural area anyway), a *more* rural area, is out of the question for them.

Blairstown. I lived not far from there when I was born, my father taught high school there for over 30 years, and my brother lives near there now. I'm about 20 miles south of there. How close do the malls need to be? They are about a half hour drive east or west.

We were at a wedding in Bad Axe. (crap, you probably know the guy, the place is so small)

Everyone, of course, was drunk.

I'm listening to these rednecks...one guy was, "Ya know, 'the thumb' just ain't like it used to be."

I'm sorry, I apologize, but I just laughed and laughed when I heard that.

Yes, I know it was ignorant. I had no knowledge of these people and how their life had been disrupted by the poor economy (this was in 2000) and development and everything. it's just that that statement sounded so funny to me.

The Thumb Just Ain't What It Used To Be.

That's redneck gold.

You should PM me the name and I'll tell you if I know them. I may not know them but typically you can tell 75% of what you need to know about someone by their last name up there. No kidding.

Yeah the redneck thing is a fine line. They are up there in decent numbers but rural inhabitant =/= redneck. I knew rednecks growing up but they were a minority. But when you see them they stick out like a sore Thumb (bad pun). I get really tweaked when people refer to anyone not living in a city or suburbia as a redneck.

No, the Thumb is not what it used to be. Port Austin is literally at the dead end of a highway. With the decline of the auto industry the economy has suffered disproportionately badly. Small Town America in general is experiencing a sad decline. Most of the youth who have options, like myself, move away for better opportunities. So what's left? Older people and the less educated. I think the K-12 enrollment there is <70% of what it was just 20 years ago.

"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

I stopped working directly with the group based in NJ. I now support the group in central Manhattan. So I go to NYC a couple times a year. I still plan on getting to NJ but with the new kiddo this year and some organizational re-shuffling that was in flux, I de-prioritized that.

"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand